President Joe Biden on Friday called former President Donald Trump’s response to his conviction in New York on criminal hush-money charges “reckless” and “dangerous.”
“It’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden said at the White House, hours after Trump held a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan condemning the criminal case.
Trump, 77, was convicted Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court of 34 felonies in connection with a scheme to conceal hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. During his press conference on Friday, Trump said of his indictment in New York state court: “This is all being done by Biden and his people. This is what Washington is doing.”
Biden, who will face Trump in November’s election, said his Republican opponent’s conviction reaffirms “the American principle that no one is above the law.”
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference the day after a guilty verdict in his criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 at Trump Tower in New York City on May 31, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
“Donald Trump had every opportunity to defend himself,” Biden said. “A state case, not a federal case, was tried by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you and millions of Americans who sat on juries.”
“This jury was selected the same way every jury in America is selected,” the president said. “Five weeks after careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict.”
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Biden noted that Trump will have the opportunity to appeal his conviction after his conviction on July 11.
But the Democrat said it was “reckless and dangerous” for Trump to argue that the criminal case was politically motivated and that the outcome was “rigged” by the judge and others.
“Our justice system has existed for almost 250 years,” Biden said. “And it is literally a cornerstone of America, of our justice system…justice should be respected.”
“And we should never let anyone tear it down. It’s that simple. This is America. This is who we are.”
This is how we will always be, God willing.
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2024-05-31 22:01:16
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